Temperature/pH/magnetic triple‐sensitive nanogel–hydrogel nanocomposite for release of anticancer drug

Hydrogels, nanogels and nanocomposites show increasing potential for application in drug delivery systems due to their good chemical and physical properties. Therefore, we were encouraged to combine them to produce a new compound with unique properties for a long‐term drug release system. In this regard, the design and application of a nanocomposite hydrogel containing entrapped nanogel for drug delivery are demonstrated. To this aim, we first prepared an iron oxide nanocomposite nanogel based on poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)‐co‐((2‐dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate) (PNIPAM‐co‐PDMA) grafted onto sodium alginate (NaAlg) as a biocompatible polymer and iron oxide nanoparticles (ION) as nanometric base (PND/ION‐NG). This was then added into a solution of PDMA grafted onto NaAlg. Through dropwise addition of mixed aqueous solution of iron salts into the prepared polymeric solution, a novel hydrogel nanocomposite with excellent pH, thermal and magnetic responsivity was fabricated. The synthesized samples were fully characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis, vibrating sample magnetometry and atomic force microscopy. A mechanism for the formation of PNIPAM‐co‐PDMA/NaAlg‐ION nanogel–PDMA/NaAlg‐ION hydrogel and PND/ION nanogel is suggested. Swelling capacity was measured at various temperatures (25 to 45 °C), pH values (from 2 to 11) and magnetic field and under load (0.3 psi) and the dependence of swelling properties of the nanogel–hydrogel nanocomposite on these factors was well demonstrated. The release rate of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) as an anticancer drug was studied at different pH values and temperatures in the presence and absence of a magnetic field. The results showed that these factors have a high impact on drug release from this nanocomposite. The result showed that DOX release could be sustained for up to 12.5 days from these nanocomposite hydrogels, significantly longer than that achievable using the constituent hydrogel or nanogel alone (<1 day). The results indicated that the nanogel–hydrogel nanocomposite can serve as a novel nanocarrier for anticancer drug delivery. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

The effect of fibre alignment on composite strength: II. The strength of angle-ply laminates

Experiments have been carried out on relatively wide angle-ply laminate samples with very short gauge lengths. These proved to be very much stronger than samples tested in earlier work, and which form the basis for our present design with these materials. It is highly likely that the early results for strength were more indicative of edge effects than true laminate strength. This is confirmed by data from tests on pressurized tubes. A review of the literature on this shows that such tests produced results which can be an order of magnitude higher than the early laminate tests. Thus our design calculations could well be severely underestimating the potential strength of angle-ply laminates. This may be having serious consequences for the aerospace industry, through the use of design criteria for strength which may be too conservative. Single-fibre experiments may pave the way for more realistic estimates of angle-ply laminate strengths. These indicate that a simple one-third power rule can be used to estimate the potential strength. However, this is purely ad hoc at present, and needs to be put on a firmer footing through both theoretical and experimental studies. Furthermore, if this approach is adopted, edge effects will still have to be allowed for, and estimated on the basis of the aspect ratio of the part.     

Synthesis and biodegradability assessment of poly(amide-imide)s containing N-trimellitylimido-l-amino acid and 5-(2-benzimidazole)-1,3-phenylenediamine

This paper addressed construction and biodegradability assessment of chiral synthetic poly(amide-imide)s (PAI)s. These polymers were prepared by polycondensation reaction of chiral diacids; N-trimellitylimido-S-valine (7a), and N-trimellitylimido-l-leucine (7b) with 5-(2-benzimidazole)-1,3-phenylenediamine (4) in the presence of tetrabutylammonium bromide as a green media under microwave irradiation. The morphology observations of the aforementioned polymers exhibit that these macromolecules are nanostructured particle and so, good candidate as carrier for biomedical application. Furthermore, in vitro toxicity and soil biodegradability test of the different synthetic diacids (7a, 7b) and the obtained PAIs were employed to evaluate the biological activity of these materials. In Petri plate technique, the monomers and obtained polymers exposed on glass lamels were all colonized by fungal saprophytes and due to this invasion, a weight loss up to 35 % was observed in the material. The soil burial test and measuring dehydrogenase activity revealed that the aforementioned monomers and polymers are biologically active and probably biodegradable under the soil. Normal wheat seedling growth took place in the vials containing the aforesaid monomers and polymers. It could be concluded that the synthesized monomers and their polymers are biologically active, and they are nontoxic to ecosystems and natural environments.     

The odontogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells on hydroxyapatite-coated biodegradable nanofibrous scaffolds

The authors aimed to design nanofibrous (NF) scaffolds that facilitate odontogenic and osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp-derived mesenchymal stem cells (DPSCs) in vitro. For this purpose, hydroxyapatite (HA)–loaded poly (L-lactic acid)/poly (?-caprolactone) (PLLA:PCL 2;1) blend NFs were prepared using the electrospinning method. Alizarin red activity and cell viability were evaluated by MTT assay, and SEM revealed the proliferation properties of NF scaffolds. QRT-PCR results demonstrated that HA-loaded PLLA/PCL can lead to osteoblast/odontoblast differentiation in DPSCs through the up-regulation of related genes, thus indicating that electrospun biodegradable PCL/PLA/HA has remarkable prospects as scaffolds for bone and tooth tissue engineering.     

A large-signal, analytic model for the GaAs MESFET

An analytic, large-signal model for the GaAs MESFET is presented. The device model is physics-based and describes the conduction and displacement currents of the FET as a function of instantaneous terminal voltages and their time derivatives. The model allows arbitrary doping profiles in the channel and is thus suitable for the optimization of ion-implanted and buried-channel FETs. It also accounts for charge accumulation in the conducting channel at high electric fields and the associated capacitance in a self-consistent manner. Theoretical predictions of the model are correlated with experimental data on X -band power FETs and excellent agreement is obtained     

Fire Response of Steel Beams With Bolted Flange Plate Connections

Fire Technology - This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the fire response of steel beams and their bolted flange plate (BFP) connections. Using sub-frame assembly,...     

Millimeter-wave power operation of an AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantumwell MISFET

The authors have developed state-of-the-art millimeter-wave power transistors using quantum-well MISFETs. MISFETs with both undoped InGaAs wells and doped InGaAs wells have been built. The f_t of the MISFETs with doped well was higher than that of MISFETs with undoped wells, indicating that the device speed does not degrade when the charge transport layer is doped. The power performance of the MISFETs with doped wells was far superior. The best device delivered a power density of 1.0 W/mm with 3.2-dB gain and 27% power-added efficiency at 60 GHz